Cambridge Arts Theatre

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Handel - Tolomeo

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The story of two brothers, sons of the ruthless, devouring Egyptian queen Cleopatra, who are shipwrecked on an island, is a story of faithful love in the face of crushing odds. No other Handel opera confronts quite so squarely the lot of the wretched of the earth, and the easy cruelty of the powerful. ETO’s modern day production, in Michael Vale’s striking birchwood box set, describes wretchedness we might see on the street today, in the exploitation of a young girl and a hapless beggar: yet driven to the edge as both are, underneath a pier where the sea meets the land (the old pier in the clean box is like the thorn in the mind, according to Vale) their dignity and faith is inspiring, and ultimately rewarded. Running time 2 hours 30 minutes including 1 interval